1896, the medical encyclopedia Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine was published. Within the tome, was a description of one Edward Mordake.

He lived in complete seclusion, refusing the visits even of the members of his own family. He was a young man of fine attainments, a profound scholar, and a musician of rare ability. His figure was remarkable for its grace, and his face – that is to say, his natural face – was that of an Antinous. But upon the back of his head was another face…

The tale of Edward Mordake is mostly rumor and legend. His second face would supposedly react to Mordake’s emotional state; smiling when Edward was happy and frowning when sad. According to the legend, Edward claimed the face would whisper to him at night about things  “one would only speak about in hell”. He requested that the face be removed, but doctors at the time didn’t believe it to be possible. Frustrated and depressed, Edward committed suicide by poison.

Ignoring the historicity of the story, what about plausibility? There are actually two medical conditions that can lead to an extra face: diprosopus and craniopagus parasiticus. In the case of diprosopus (from Greek meaning “two face person”), features of the face are duplicated due to complications in the SHH protein (SHH, of course, stands for Sonic Hedgehog). That protein regulates how wide facial features grow to be, so with too much… they begin to duplicate. This is very different from craniopagus parasiticus which is actually a form of parasitic or conjoined twinning.

Cases of both have been observed through history, but unfortunately very few have survived beyond childhood. In one more recent case, a Chinese man had a secondary face successfully removed from his head. He lived most of his life in solitude, perhaps due to others’ superstition (but after surgeons were able to remove the extra head he managed to become friends with Bruce Lee). Though in Mordake’s day, such a feat would be impossible, today there is hope for those with more than one face.

Music: Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra

It is a shape found in a lot of places. Its influence can be found throughout history and has had an impact on millions, if not billions of humans. The truncated icosahedron has 32 sides; made up of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons. The first known illustration of this shape was drawn by Leonardo da Vinci. In 1447, he included it in a book created with his close friend Luca Pacioli called De Divina Proportione: The Divine Proportion. Since then, the truncated icosahedron has been seen in a lot of places.

The 1970 World Cup was to be televised across the globe. When Adidas was hired to create their first official ball, they decided to focus on two things: creating the roundest ball of all time and creating a ball that could be easily seen on black and white television sets. The Telstar ball was born. It is the most well known design for these balls; the shape of an overinflated truncated icosahedron. Why was it named Telstar? The 12 black pentagons and 20 white hexagons looked similar to the black and white pattern of the Telstar communications satellite.

While experimenting with laser vaporized carbon, in 1985 a group from Rice University came across something interesting. The molecules in the vapor, according to their measurements, had a weight equal to 60 atoms each. The shape of this molecule, I’m sure you’d guess, was just like a soccer ball. Carbon₆₀ was the first new form of Carbon discovered in possibly a millennium. It was the first carbon form to dissolve in water and the first molecule to be able to trap an atom in its interior. This opened up vast new realms of scientific discovery for the element and led to a Nobel prize given to the group.

Perhaps the most notorious use of the shape is also the least seen… The Fat Man bomb, detonated over Nagasaki, owed it’s design to that shape. Shock waves from the detonators need to be focused onto the center of the weapon. 12 pentagonal and 20 hexagonal lenses line the edges of the bomb, making the truncated icosahedron possibly the most destructive shape in history.

Music: Piano Concerto in A minor by Edvard Grieg, performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra

There have been many points in history in which it was difficult, if not impossible, for a doctor to study human anatomy. During the 18th and 19th centuries, it became common for bodies to be stolen from their graves. In 1752, the Murder Act was passed in the UK allowing for the executed to be used for anatomical study… but it wasn’t enough to meet the demand and “resurrectionists” continued their trade.

Resurrectionists were body snatchers. In the cover of night, these men made their money by digging up fresh graves and selling the bodies to anatomy schools, artists, and surgeons. Strangely, it was not strictly illegal to dig up graves at the time, but it was highly frowned upon (leading to some resurrectionists being violently attacked when discovered). What would be illegal, is snatching the bodies of those still alive.

Two Williams, by the surnames Burke and Hare, are particularly famous for this. Instead of digging up fresh corpses, they killed 16 men and women in 1828. The fresher the body, the higher the price; of course there was incentive for murder. After being caught, the term “burking” caught on to refer to these anatomy murders. Later, three different men in 1830 were nicknamed the “London Burkers” after they killed a boy to sell his body.

In the meantime, body snatching continued to grow stronger with each passing year. Estimates are difficult to come by, but some historians say the bodies snatched numbered in the thousands each year. What caused the trend to finally die out? Possibly a rumor. It was reported that two resurrectionists died after exhuming a body. The number of bodies taken dropped from the thousands in 1838, to zero in 1844. But for decades to come, the rich would still protect their coffins with, among other things, iron cages.

Music: Nocturne in C minor, B. 108 by Frédéric Chopin performed by Diana Hughes

Some time during the Victorian era, honey bees began appearing painted onto the tops of urinals. Why honey bees? Likely because of a pun from the insect’s Latin family name “apis“. Honey bees are not the only insect to be featured on urinals, and it can be quite common in the modern era.

During the 1960s, Jos Van Bedoff noticed something while in the Dutch army. Someone had placed red dots on the backs of the urinals. What’s more, is that the urinals with the red dots had much less mess surrounding them. This was important to a man regularly on janitorial duty such as himself. About 20 years later, as a maintenance man, he added flies to the backs of urinals for the same effect.

His idea spread quickly. Today, you’ll find flies painted on the backs of urinals around the globe. Especially areas with public restrooms that see a lot of foot traffic (Schiphol Airport reported an 80% drop in spills when they added flies). Van Bedoff believed this reduction in spills was because men wanted to achieve some sort of victory over easily killed prey. Whatever the reason, it appears the targets may be here to stay.

Music: Flight of the Bumblebee from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Tale of the Tsar Saltan

Victory Boogie-Woogie is the final work of art by the Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian. It is a cacophony red, blue, yellow, black, and white parallelograms, on a diamond shaped canvas, remenicent of busy city streets. But the piece remains unfinished because Mondrian died on February 1st, 1944… 2 years into painting the piece. Many pieces of art are never finished, but not always because the artist died.

In the case of Unfinished portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the work is unfinished because the subject died before it was completed. April 12th, 1945, Elizabeth Shoumatoff began painting her subject. When the president was served lunch, he commented “I have a terrific pain in the back of my head” and fell unconscious from a stroke. After being taken to his room, he died at 3:35pm.

In the case of Jacque-Louis David’s The Tennis Court Oath, it was actually political unrest that caused the work to remain incomplete. 576 people had gathered to sign an oath that they would not leave until a new constitution was drafted. Although they did draft a constitution, soon after, the French Revolution began. While David was painting the event, he became a deputy of the National Convention and several of the people depicted were being labelled enemies and traitors. David decided it would be best to stop painting the piece.

Big events like war and death don’t always have a hand in stopping the completion of a painting. Paul Cézanne gave up on finishing his Portrait of Gustave Geffroy simply because he didn’t like it! Ironically this piece became fairly popular after Cézanne’s death. The perspectives and geometric dimensions were particularly interesting to cubist painters. Even if a piece remains incomplete it may still evoke strong reactions.

Music: Suite, Op.8 by Alfredo D’Ambrosio performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band

I’m afraid this week there will be no article due to the hard work I (and everyone on the Professor Elliot team) have been putting in to the new YouTube videos. But this means I get to announce our new schedule and I think you’ll like it!

Rarities with Professor Elliot

Basically the video edition of Professor Elliot’s Bookshelf, this series will have a new episode online every second Wednesday! Newest episode will air in just three days!

Professor Elliot’s Adventure Club

Often one of the fan favorites, this show will have a new episode every fourth Wednesday. Although life has made filming these difficult, we aim to still provide an adventure every month! This month you may be seeing something a bit different, but I know you’ll enjoy it all the same.

Fantastic Feasts & Where to Find Them

This is the newest show and the first episode is already on YouTube! Every first and third Wednesday, join Kristaan Barrick and I as we explore the world of food. Some tasty, some strange, and others downright frightening, but all worth a taste.

Thanks for sticking with us as we move into new realms!

Music: Everybody’s Charleston Crazy by Georgia Melodians

Paris has an estimated 200 miles or more of underground tunnels. This network is not only the catacombs, but limestone mines. Many remain unmapped, so police do regular searches to map as well as look for illegal activity. On one search, they came across something different… a newly-built, secret clubhouse.

Yes, hidden under the Palais de Chaillot, the police found: full electrical hookups, a stocked restaurant and bar, at least three phone lines, and full-sized movie screen! Everything there was still being actively used, so there was a chance the police could catch these trespassers. When they returned in three days, everything had been removed, and even the phone lines were cut. The only thing left was a note: “Ne cherchez pas” (translated: do not search).

In later discoveries it was revealed that the project was a part of the group L’UX (the Urban eXperiment); whom the police have been chasing ever since the discovery in 2004. Starting with the theft of government tunnel maps in 1981, the group uses the Paris catacombs to “improve hidden corners of Paris”. They do that using teams of secret messengers, performers, artists, restoration specialists, photographers, and more.

Another example of their work was seen when the Pantheon clock was functioning for the first time in 40 years! Untergunther, their restoration team, spent the year of 2005 working in secret to fix the clock. Using a little known side-entrance, the team worked nights to restore the cogs. Upon finishing they decided on something the group had never done before… reveal themselves.

It was a difficult decision: leave the clock unwound and restored or let the administration know that it can function again. After much discussion, they decided to reveal the changes to the caretaker. Administration was shocked and immediately sued the two. Though they were arrested, the remaining members remain anonymous and the case itself was tossed out. The group remains dedicated to restoring whatever underground sites they can.

If you’d like to know more about the operations of L’UX, you can find more in a book published by their spokesman Lazar Kunstmann called: La culture en clandestins. L’UX.

Music: Nuages by Django Reinhardt covered by Reynold Philipsek

If you find yourself in a convention hall filled with health inspectors or food safety professionals, bring up the topic of “bathtub cheese” for an entertaining time. It is as bad as it sounds: unpasteurized cheese made in a bathtub (or any other waterproof container at home). Although it is illegal in the United States, people continue sell their homemade cheese and it’s caused a lot of issues.

Making your own cheese is not illegal, but it is a felony if you intend to sell it or even give it away. This is for good reason. The process of making cheese can easily allow for contaminants like Salmonella, E. Coli, and other food borne illnesses to grow. In a highly-controlled factory, the risk is incredibly low, but in someone’s backyard or garage… you can’t be sure. In 2011, an outbreak of more than 2,000 cases of Salmonella were attributed to homemade cheese.

The cheese could also be made in containers that aren’t safe for food use, like galvanized metal tanks. In the case of galvanized containers, things like zinc and cadmium can leach into the cheese. Cheese makers will often use whatever container they have at home, or whatever is big enough that they can pick up at their local hardware shop. Also, seeing as it is unpasteurized and in many states it is illegal to sell raw milk, how do they get the rest of the supplies?

Simply put: bribery. Makers of bathtub cheese will pay a farmer under the table for a certain amount of raw milk. The benefit is twofold for the cheese maker. One, the agitation of the milk, caused by driving it home unrefrigerated, can jump start the culturing process! Two, they will get milk at a substantially lower price, and thus be able to sell at a lower price. But don’t let the price point tempt you, this cheese is  a health risk you don’t want to take.

As an extra note, one risk that is often cited in bad cheese is Listeria. Listeria causes sepsis and meningitis, and is particularly dangerous to pregnant women, newborns, adults with weakened immune systems, and the elderly. Ironically, Listeria is one of the least likely to be found in bathtub cheeses as it doesn’t compete well with other bacteria. So you’d actually more likely find it in factory made cheese where no other bacteria competes with it!

Music: Asturias (Leyenda), from Suite española by Isaac Albéniz, performed by Gordon Rowland

Leonardo da Vinci once wrote, “If you cause your ship to stop, and place the head of a long tube in the water, and place the other extremity to your ear you will hear ships at a great distance from you.” His description is quite accurate of sea water’s ability to transmit sound easily. In a quiet ocean, the whale’s song (at up to 190 dB) can be heard from one continent to another. But quiet oceans do not exist anymore. In fact, they began disappearing the moment humanity became a seafaring race.

There are many issues that acoustic smog is causing to sea life, whales being among the most well known. Sonar has been linked to causing whales to beach themselves. A naval exercise in 2002 caused many whales to beach with hemorrhaging in their ears and lungs. The sound of sonar has also been shown to wreck the balancing systems of squids and octopodes, meaning they become unable to move. Boat engines produce noise in the same band of sound as many fish communication frequencies, meaning fish may have difficulty communicating.

But there is still much to be learned about man-made (or anthropogenic) sounds’ effect on sea life. So how do we learn more? One answer is the International Quiet Ocean Experiment. Just as stated, the goal of the project is to study what differences a quiet ocean would have on sea life. Organizers hope to coordinate a single day in which most (though ideally all) anthropogenic ocean noise is turned off. It is no easy task, but already one study has achieved this the day after the 9/11 attacks (when all commercial transport was halted). The study showed that whales had less stress hormones during that period.

With so much noise today, including seismic tests and military operations, how does the IQOE plan to move forward? Admittedly, the ultimate hope seems futile. Somehow convincing all nations to halt their ocean noise simultaneously can be a preposterous thought. Unfortunately, no solutions have arisen, but that hasn’t stopped the group from conducting research anyhow. There’s a lot to be learned.

Music: Miroirs – III. Une barque sur l’ocean by Maurice Ravel performed by Robert Ewen Birchall

You read the title correctly. Flying snakes. Southeast Asia, southernmost China, India, and Sri Lanka are home to a few species of snake that can actually glide from tree to tree. This is the serpentine genus of Chrysopelea. Luckily, they don’t prey on humans, but lizards, frogs, birds, and bats.

In order to fly from a tree, first they need to determine where they are going by hanging from a branch and leaning forward towards its destination (in a “J” shape). It then launches itself away from the tree! To maintain altitude, they suck in their stomachs (with a similar cross-section to a frisbee^®) and slither through the air creating lift. There are five species listed in the genus Chrysopelea, and each have their own skills.

At four feet long, C. ornata (the ornate flying snake) is the largest of them. It is lime green or yellow in most places but India, where it takes on a red and black striped pattern. Because of its size, C. ornata is considered to be a weak flier. For distance, look no further than the two foot long C. paradisi.

The paradise tree snake is as close as anything to an actual flying (not gliding) snake. Astoundingly, it can move 100 meters (328 feet) horizontally from the top of a tree! Further, slow motion photography of the snakes show that their heads remain stable which would suggest somewhat controlled flight.

These snakes have a better ability to glide than flying squirrels! And that’s not the only form of locomotion that they excel at… climbing trees comes quite easily to them and they do it vertically. The scales along their belly stick out in just the right way to provide grip! Luckily these frighteningly adept creatures, though slightly venomous, can’t kill a human!

Music: Violin Sonata in G Minor by Claude Debussy